Resources for Reporters
If you are a reporter seeking information from the Minnesota Department of Health, the best place to start is with one of the department's information officers, listed below. They, like you, have certain "beats," and can get you the information you need or arrange an interview with a professional expert in the department.
Use the following alphabetized list of public health topics to connect with the information officer who can assist you. If you don't see a topic listed below, or you're still not sure whom to contact, please call the MDH Communications Office at 651-201-4989. Also see information officer assignments by division.
| Topic | Information Officer | Phone number |
| AIDS/STD prevention | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Air cleaners | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Air, indoor | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Asbestos | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Assisted living | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Audiologists | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Background checks (nursing homes) | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Beaches | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Bicycle helmets | Scott Smith | 651-201-4998 |
| Bioterrorism | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Birth and death certificates and related data | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Breast/cervical cancer | Scott Smith | 651-201-4998 |
| Breastfeeding | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Campgrounds (health issues relating to) | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Cancer control and surveillance | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Cancer - incidence/occurrence statistics | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Cancer - mortality statistics | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Carbon dioxide/monoxide | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Chemical exposure | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Chemical health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Child health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Children's camps | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Children with special health needs | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Clean indoor air | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Commissioner's Office | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Community health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Contaminants, environmental | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Crab lice | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Crematoriums | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Cryptosporidium | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Death certificates and related data | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Dental health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Diabetes | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Disease prevention and control | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Disparities in health status | Edie French | 651-201-4991 |
| Drinking water | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Education loan forgiveness programs | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Emergency preparedness | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Environmental health | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Epidemiology | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Facility and Provider Compliance | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Family health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Family planning | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Fetal alcohol syndrome | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Fish, safety of eating | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Fleas, lice | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Flu and flu shots | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Food, beverage and lodging establishments | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Food poisoning | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Food safety | Doug Schultz or Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4993 or 651-201-4997 |
| Foreign travel immunizations | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Formaldehyde | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Freedom to Breathe | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Funeral homes and morticians | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Genetic/hereditary disease | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Groundwater | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Hazardous waste | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Health care facilities complaints, licensing | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Health economics | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Health insurance consumer information | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Health occupations | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Health professional shortages | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Health reform | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Health statistics | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Hearing instrument dispensers | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| High blood pressure | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| HMO complaints | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Home health care complaints | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Home health care licensing | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Hospital complaints | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Immunizations/vaccinations | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Infant and child care | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Influenza | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Injury | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Laboratories, public health | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Lead | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Legislative initiatives | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Lice, fleas, ticks | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Lyme disease | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Mammograms | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Managed care | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Maternal and child health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Measles, mumps | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Mental health practitioners, unlicensed | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Minority health | Edie French | 651-201-4991 |
| Mold/moisture | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Mortuary science | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Newborn screening | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Nursing assistant registry | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Nursing facilities | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Nutrition | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Occupational therapists | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Patient's Bill of Rights | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Public health emergencies | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Public health laboratory | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Rabies | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Radiation | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Radon | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Refugee health | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Risk communication | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Rural health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| School cafeterias | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| School health | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Septic tanks/sewage | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Sexual violence | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Sexually transmitted diseases | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Speech language pathologists | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Smoking - prevention | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Smoking - indoors | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4993 |
| Swimming pools | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| Tobacco use | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Travel immunizations | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Tuberculosis | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Uncompensated (charity) care | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Venereal diseases | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Violence | John Stieger | 651-201-4998 |
| Vision and hearing | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| Water safety | Doug Schultz | 651-201-4993 |
| Wellhead protection | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
| WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program | Scott Smith | 651-201-5806 |
| X-ray machines | Buddy Ferguson | 651-201-4997 |
